Tuesday, 20 June 2017

King of the Outback

King of
the Outbackis a
jewel of an Australian children’s book with many facets to contemplate. It is also a picture book, a book of
Australian history, a biography, obviously a non-fictional work but absolutely
a delight to read.

It is
the life story of Sir Sidney Kidman who left home at thirteen with five
shillings and a one-eyed horse, then ended up owning the largest cattle station
in Australia.

It is
tempting to imagine how primary school children will approach this book.

Some
will look at the first few pages and then work through the book admiring the
stylised pen and ink illustrations of people and animals surrounded by the
colours of the bush. The watercolour palette is perfect.

Other
children will read the unravelling story on each page and immerse themselves
into the story through the corresponding illustration.

The
expressions of the people and the brown landscape match the late
nineteenth-century Australian country with its harsh dusty ground, the solid
civic buildings and the fashionable clothing evident on the streets of the
town.

King of
the Outbackis also
an ideal reader for parents and teachers to read to younger children whilst
showing them the illustrations – I like looking at some of the people hidden in
the crowds!

You can
almost hear the sounds emanating from the illustrations, enhanced by the use of
an unusual selection of fonts and embellishments – font size, bold, curved,
etc. I think that this
arrangement of text is designed to keep the readers’ attention away from
staring at the illustrations for too long instead of moving along with the
story.

The
text is simple and effective. It
gets the story told interspersed with many interesting facts and events like
theimpressive
rescue of the town’s people from scared, rampaging cattle during Sid’s seventy
fifth birthday rodeo.

This
book should make for excellent classroom discussions as this era of Australian
history comes to life in thirty two pages. But don’t let any child walk out of
the classroom with fifty cents and a ‘see you all later’.